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So you're not a tank, and you're not a healer: in a typical MMO setup, that leaves you only one more option - you're a class that does damage.

Damage-dealing classes often have their performance measured by a term called DPS. DPS stands for damage per second, and indicates just that - how much damage your character can do in a single second's worth of time.

Most games do not directly give you a way to measure DPS, although some games - like World of Warcraft - offer mods that, when installed, can track DPS for you. These mods are often used by most players, especially raid leaders, to measure the performance of the group - and they expect you to know your general performance, aka DPS, as well.

Why is DPS so important?

When you're a tank, you're expected to hold threat; as a healer, you're expected to heal effectively. If you're doing damage, then your job is to do damage - and to do it well. "Well" means both skillfully, and fast. The more punch you have - the more DPS - the faster enemies will die, saving the tank and the healer a great deal of headache. Some fights or encounters are even designed as "DPS races" - that means that if there isn't enough DPS, the fight will eventually go in permanent favor of the enemy, and result in player death.

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